Ethnic & Religious Pluralism in 17th-Century Phnom Penh

International Symposium The Changing Mekong: Pluralistic Societies under Siege. Khon Kaen (Thailand): Center for Research on Plurality in the Mekong Region (CERP) and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, 28-30 June 2004 Observations on ethnic and religious pluralism in Seventeenth-Century Phnom Penh By Carool Kersten (Payap University, Chiang Mai) Introduction In the early 1640s the Cambodian court at Oudong was the scene of an unprecedented string of events. It started with the bloody usurpation of the throne by Chao Ponhea Cand (a.k.a. Prince Sattha). Initially he ruled under the name Ramadhipati I (1642-1658), but then he decided to embrace Islam, on which occasion he adopted the Muslim name Ibrahim. In the wake of his conversion Cambodia‟s Muslim Malay and Cham communities succeeded in increasing their political influence. Matters were further complicated when, in the Fall of 1643, the representatives of the Dutch East India Company in Cambodia were massacred or imprisoned, leading to an unsuccessful Dutch military expedition a year later. Although this remarkable episode is mentioned in several historical studies, to my knowledge it has never been the subject of a separate examination. 1 Apart from the drama that surrounds the unfolding of these events, what is more significant is the context in which they occurred. This paper pays attention to the pluralist aspects surrounding Ramadhipati‟s conversion and places it against the period‟s historical background. The reign of Ramadhipati I/Ibrahim provides namely not just a vignette of the politic scheming at some exotic court in Asia, but offers a window on the cosmopolitan society that seventeenthcentury Phnom Penh can considered to have been. Although in those days the power of the Cambodian kings was a far cry from that of their predecessors at Angkor and their capital Oudong/Longvek paled in comparison to neighboring Ayutthaya, it did reflect -- on a miniature scale -- Siam‟s international mercantilism and ethnic diversity. The Phnom Penh area had a number of resident expatriate communities: Chinese, Japanese, Indians, Vietnamese, and Portuguese merchants all kept a presence there, as did more firmly established nationalities like the Cham and the Malays, who were also much in demand because of their military skills. In 1636 they were joined by a small Dutch contingent of East India Company officials, later followed by English and Danish traders, as well as French missionaries. To underscore that element of pluralism, this presentation will be based on data derived from both indigenous and foreign sources, in addition to that, a number of studies by later-day scholars has been consulted too. Sources As far as indigenous, that is Cambodian, sources are considered, we have to rely on the reconstructed image based on a collection of extant royal chronicles and fragments of chronicles. Although the contents of some of these primary sources go back to antiquity, the actual manuscripts are of relatively recent date. In the introduction to his annotated translation of the Cambodian royal chronicles, historian Mak Phoeun gives a detailed inventory of available texts. 2 The oldest -- the so-called Ang En Chronicle -- dates back to only 1796, and even that one has only survived in a Thai translation.3 But most of the editions that are currently in existence are no older than the nineteenth or even first part of the twentieth century. The various texts usually contain only fragmentary historical information, while some of the more „complete‟ ones also include legendary sections. One of the major obstacles in studying these chronicles is formed by the considerable differences in dating. This problem is in part caused by the use of at least three calendar systems; the habit to refer sometimes to years only by animal names; and the combination of a lunar and solar system organized in cycles of twelve and ten years respectively.4 To resolve that problem Mak Phoeun has selected the chronicle by a man of letters named Nan (1818) as his benchmark, because verification of its dating 1 International Symposium The Changing Mekong: Pluralistic Societies under Siege. Khon Kaen (Thailand): Center for Research on Plurality in the Mekong Region (CERP) and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, 28-30 June 2004 against other chronicles and external sources has shown that it is the most reliable one. 5 Another complicating factor is the naming of kings and princes. Cambodian royalty was usually awarded a personal name upon birth, a princely name some time later in life, and finally a royal title upon assuming the throne.6 In the case of the king who is the main subject of this study; his personal name was Chao Ponhea Cand; his princely name: Sattha, and his royal title: Ramadhipati I. To this was added a fourth name, Ibrahim, following his conversion to Islam. This profusion of names and titles makes it often very difficult to ascertain the exact identity of actors featuring in the chronicles. Mak Phoeun has used a text known as the Vamn Juon Chronicle (VJ), which was completed in 1934, as the base line document for his translation and commentary project. Other texts containing important information concerning the period in question are a fragment found in the possession of a Cambodian mandarin (P57), and the chronicle commissioned by King Norodom in 1903 and continued under his successor Sisovath (P63) – this latter version is, incidentally, the first chronicle that included dates based on the Christian calendar. Finally there is the Dik Vil Chronicle (DV), named after the monastery where it was completed between 1901 and 1941. Painstakingly comparing the various texts, Mak Phoeun has concluded that, in spite of discrepancies, “all the different versions present stories of the essential events in the history of the Khmer people. The information which they provide is rather solid and – admirably – most of the times in accordance with the data from foreign sources.” 7 He cautions against the assumption that the authors of the most recent chronicle versions must have taken liberties because they provide so many more details; access to private – as yet unidentified -- manuscript collections cannot be dismissed out of hand.8 The events that are the subject of this paper fall in what Mak Phoeun has dubbed the third and fourth segments of the period following the fall of the capital Longvek (1594): characterized respectively by succession squabbles and the start of Vietnamese military invasions. 9 In their rendition of events, the various chronicles betray the angle or viewpoint of their authors or their patrons, who commissioned the writing of the document. The VJ and P63 versions were composed by court mandarins. Consequently, their focus is on the role and position of the king. These chronicles are designed to underscore the central significance of the kingly office. Being courtiers, the authors have also taken care to emphasize their own importance.10 The compilers of two other key texts, known as DV and P58 (and maybe also P57), were monks. Not only is their angle of affairs more colored by religious interests, but -- since monks live among the general population and not in the isolated splendor of the court -- these chronicles also contain valuable information on folk practices and details on popular uprisings and rebellions – issues the kings did not want to feature in documents that were supposed to celebrate their power and authority.11 Very relevant for the current excursion into the reign of Ramadhipati I is that the cited texts diverge considerable regarding the details on the reign of this king, something that will be further elaborated on below. 12 *** Apart from the Cambodian chronicles, we have also a number of Dutch sources at our disposal, containing information on the situation in Cambodia a few years before and after the usurpation of power by Ramadhipati I, as well as the final years of his reign.13 They were all written by officials of the Dutch East India Company, better known under its acronym „VOC‟.14 This organization by and large monopolized the Dutch Asian trade and foreign policy in the East from its inception in 1602 until its bankruptcy in the late 1790s, at the eve of the Napoleonic invasion of the Netherlands. Two of the sources that have been consulted are published records, first released in 1669 and 1726 respectively. The authors or compilers of both publications have drawn on VOC material more or less contemporary to the events they describe. The first one is a booklet entitled Vremde Geschiedenissen in de Koninckrijcken van Cambodia en Louwen-lant [Strange Events in the Kingdoms of Cambodia and Laos], issued by one Pieter Casteleyn -- a book printer from the town of Haarlem.15 The booklet‟s fiftyodd pages give a brief description of Cambodian affairs between 1636 and 1644, the time when the VOC maintained a trading post in Phnom Penh. It also contains the slightly better-known account of the 1641 2 International Symposium The Changing Mekong: Pluralistic Societies under Siege. Khon Kaen (Thailand): Center for Research on Plurality in the Mekong Region (CERP) and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, 28-30 June 2004 expedition to Vientiane under the direction of the under-merchant Gerard Wusthof (a.k.a. van Wuijsthoff). The other source is a section in François Valentyn‟s monumental A Description of the East Indies.16 Soon after its initial release Vremde Geschiedenissen was all but forgotten, and it was not until 1917 that a businessman-diplomat cum scholar by the name of Dr. Hendrik Muller decided to reprint it as part of a larger collection of documents pertaining to the activities of the VOC in Cambodia and Laos, which he personally edited for publication.17 Muller had become interested in the topic during his own journey through Asia from 1907-1909, during which he was shown a rare copy of the book by the director of the École Française d‟Extrême Orient in Hanoi.18 In 2003 White Lotus Press in Bangkok released an annotated English translation of the 1669 edition made by your humble servant.19 The collection of documents compiled by Muller in 1917, contains a number of texts that are of immediate interest for the present topic, not only because they form the basis for the two published sources, but also because they provide additional information and more details regarding the events described in those books. Most of the material presented by Muller is rather brief, or consists only of excerpts from longer ones, but two more extensive reports provide interesting details of the circumstances under which the Dutch operated in Cambodia during the 1630s and 1640s. 20 The VOC officials were first and foremost businessmen, and their writings therefore deal predominantly with commercial issues. However, since trade was usually conducted under a royal monopoly, they maintained close contacts with the court and dispersed throughout their reports are snippets of information concerning Cambodian politics and traders from other nations, that allow us to compose a more revealing image of the situation in seventeenth-century Cambodia. Background To understand what transpired in Cambodia during the reign of Ramadhipati I it is helpful to give a short background of Cambodian politics during the preceding decades and an impression of the nature of relations between Cambodians, Malays and Cham. *** In the early seventeenth century Cambodia was still recovering from the dramatic fall of its capital Longvek following the Siamese invasion of 1594. Mak Phoeun considers this event an important caesura in Cambodian history; a watershed between the immediate post-Angkor era -- during which Cambodia could still mount a degree of power -- and the beginning of a period of steady decline, marked by increasingly more frequent foreign interventions. Starting with Thai, Malay, Cham, as well as Portuguese and Spanish interferences, these culminated in full-blown Vietnamese invasions in the second half of the seventeenth century, and finally the French colonization of the 1860s. 21 In 1594 King Sattha (a.k.a. Paramaraja IV, r. 1576-1594) was forced to flee and seek refuge in the Lao capital Vientiane, while his brother Sri Suriyobarm was taken captive and transferred to Ayutthaya as a hostage. During the intermediate aftermath two Iberian soldiers of fortune, the Spaniard Blas Ruiz de Hernan Gonzales and the Portuguese Diego Belloso (Veloso) tried to restore the descendants of King Sattha to the throne with the help of the Catholic friar orders of Manila and Malacca. However, their bungled attempt ended with their own deaths during a Malay-led counter revolt in the summer of 1599.22 The ensuing confusion lasted until 1602. Kings were murdered while rivaling factions of noble families fought each other over suitable successors. The resident Malays continued to play an important role in this web of conspiracies and intrigue, They were led by the so-called Laksamana, who for a while was even able to carve out a position for himself as an independent warlord.23 Eventually one group of mandarins prevailed with the support of Ayutthaya, and Sattha‟s exiled brother Sri Suriyobarm was allowed to return to Cambodia and take the throne as Paramaraja VII (16021619).24 This new Thai intervention spelled the end of the influence of the Catholic friar orders, although 3 International Symposium The Changing Mekong: Pluralistic Societies under Siege. Khon Kaen (Thailand): Center for Research on Plurality in the Mekong Region (CERP) and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, 28-30 June 2004 it did not stop Portuguese merchants from remaining in Cambodia to pursue their commercial activities. The same applied to the Malays. Also already present was a substantial contingent of Japanese, mainly exiled Christians, who played a pivotal role in Cambodian commerce, both as traders in their own right and as intermediaries for Western merchants.25 Some tensions developed around 1605, when increasing numbers of Japanese junks became involved in piracy off the coasts of Cambodia, Cochinchina, and Champa, forcing the Cambodian king to lodge complaints with the Shogun in Edo.26 This is one of the earliest episodes of which the records amply illustrate the cosmopolitanism prevailing in Cambodia, and the role that foreigners played in the country‟s politics. The death of Ayutthaya‟s King Naresuen in 1605, gave the Cambodian monarch a chance to set out on a more independent course of action in dealing with the country‟s internal affairs, which were still extremely precarious.27 For one, it allowed the return of King Paramaraja‟s sons, Jayajettha and Uday. Mak Phoeun mentions that the chronicle records concerning that period allude to certain indiscretions on the part of Uday with the spouse of his brother Jayajettha a few years later. Although there is no conclusive evidence about her identity, Mak Phoeun ventures that she may have been a Malay or Cham princess from the southern Treang province.28 Possibly that the root for the future rivalry between the Jayajettha and Uday lines of the royal family can be traced back to this incident. In 1619 the 67-year old king abdicated in favor of his oldest son, who ruled for the next eight years as Jayajettha II. After taking power he conferred upon his retiring father his former title Ubhayoraj and upon his Vietnamese wife the dignity of Aggamahesi (queen), while appointing his brother Uday as Uparaj -second king -- with the title of Paramaraja. When King Jayajettha died in 1627 the throne was offered to Uday, who declined to become king. Instead Jayajettha was succeeded by his son Chao Ponhea Tu, who was still a minor and serving as a Buddhist monk at the time of his father‟s passing away. Consequently, the deceased king‟s younger brother Uday took on the title Ubhayoraj and started to act as „regent‟ on behalf of his nephew. Subsequently he invited the young prince to disrobe and assume office under the title Sri Dhammaraja I.29 One of the first acts of the new king was to build himself a new residence outside Oudong , on Koh Khlok – an island in Tonlé Thom, opposite Phnom Penh. The exact reasons have remained unclear, but it is assumed there was tension between the king and his uncle, the Ubhayoraj Uday, due to the latter‟s marriage with Jayajettha „s daughter Ang Vati, whom Jayajettha had actually promised as a bride to his son King Sri Dhammaraja .30 After five years these tensions reached a climax and burst into the open. According to Mak Phoeun there was a real power struggle between Sri Dhammaraja I and Uday, but in the royal chronicles the former‟s re-establishment of a liaison with Princess Ang Vati is presented as a pretext for Uday to take decisive action against the king. Five thousand troops, partly consisting of Portuguese mercenaries, besieged the king at Koh Khlok.31 The exact fate of the king following this clash is not entirely clear. One of the extant chronicles states that Sri Dhammaraja I died in 1634, but Geraerd Wusthof mentioned in his journal that the king was murdered in Koh Khlok in 1632. There is also a Japanese source that leads one to believe that the king was alive at least until 1633.32 Some of the chronicles report further that Princess Ang Vati was also either killed alongside the king, or executed later on.33 With the disappearance of Sri Dhammaraja I from the scene, the grand dignitaries of the realm invited Uday once again to become king. But the regent refused – as he had done in 1627 – and arrangements were made for Chao Ponhea Nur, a younger half-brother of the dead king, to take the throne as Ang Dan Raja, while his uncle continued as regent.34 Uday and Ang Dan Raja ruled peacefully alongside each other for eight years, until the latter‟s sudden death in 1640. Although at least two brothers of the deceased king were still alive, Uday now appointed his own son Ang Nan as the new king, under the name Padumaraja I.35 With this decision he sealed his own fate and the stage was set for the unfolding of a royal drama, two years later. *** 4 International Symposium The Changing Mekong: Pluralistic Societies under Siege. Khon Kaen (Thailand): Center for Research on Plurality in the Mekong Region (CERP) and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, 28-30 June 2004 Authoritative studies dealing with early relations between the various parts of the Southeast Asian region and beyond indicate that many of the maritime intra-Asian trade routes were dominated by the Malays.36 The key role played by Malays in commerce between maritime and mainland Southeast Asia, becomes understandable when the geographical position of the Indo-Chinese coast vis-à-vis the Malay Peninsula is taken into consideration. Traveling from the southeast tip of the Indochina Peninsula – then Cambodian territory but now part of Vietnam -- across the Gulf of Siam or South China Sea, the shortest way to make landfall is the route to Pattani on the northeastern tip of the Peninsula. In a brief survey of relations between the Malay Peninsula and Indochina, the French scholar Lafont observed that Cham documents show the presence of Malay traders in Champa‟s ports long before the fifteenth century, and that for the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Malay manuscripts corroborate this fact. In Vietnam, VânDôn, Phô-hiên, Faifo, and Dong-nai were ports of call for sailors from Malacca, Kelantan, Johore, Trengganu, Pattani and what is now Singapore. 37 Of more direct relevance are the observations made regarding the Malays‟ position in Cambodia. Lafont notes that sixteenth-century Cambodian, Spanish and Portuguese texts do not say much about commerce, but show instead a preoccupation with the political role played by the Malays, one of the two constituent groups of Cambodia‟s Muslim community. Recalling the gravity of Cambodia‟s internal situation in the 1590s, during which the Malay Laksamana was able to claim virtual independence, this is not surprising. For the seventeenth century Lafont actually refers to one of the earlier mentioned Dutch sources: namely Valentyn‟s account, as an indication of the prominent commercial role played by Malays in Cambodia.38 If we read that statement alongside Lafont‟s next observation that intensive Malay involvement in the external trade of neighboring Siam since the fifteenth century came to an abrupt end with the strict enforcement of the royal monopoly there, since the reign of King Songtham (1610-1628), may we then conclude that this was the reason for the Malays to shift their attention from Ayutthaya to Cambodia instead – in addition to southern Siamese vassal states like Trang, Nakhon Sri Thammarat and Kedah?39 One of the earliest Dutch primary sources appears to corroborate this state of affairs. The diary of Jan (van) Gaelen (Galen), the Dutch merchant sent to Phnom Penh in 1636, contains a reference to a visit to the “quarter of the Chinese, Malays, and Cochin Chinese”, recording the presence of -- indeed great numbers of – “Malays, [people of] Pahang, Pattani, Johore and Jambi, who are trading in cloth, pepper, lead, tin, ray skins, and betel.” 40 In a survey conducted in 1937, the French scholar Marcel Ner discovered that Cambodia‟s „régnicole‟ [native] Muslims were either Cham or „Jva‟/‟Melayu‟ from Borneo, the Minangkabau region on Sumatra, or the peninsular states of Singapore and Trengganu., as well as Siam.41 The other constituent group of the Cambodian Muslims were the Cham. It is generally assumed that they made their way to Cambodia in the wake of the destruction of their capital Vijaya by invading Vietnamese in 1471. Mak Phoeun notes that the ensuing migratory movement also included other ethnic groups inhabiting the „pluri-ethnic kingdom‟ of Champa.42 Subsequently, they met in Cambodia with the descendants of Malay immigrants. Because of the similarities between their languages and other common cultural traits, the two groups soon intermarried and the Malays are said to have converted the Cham to Islam. 43 The close relationship between resident Malay and Cham in Cambodia is further evidenced by the generic Khmer term Cām Jvā– „the Cham and Malays‟ – used to designate the Muslim community of Cambodia.44 The Cham were credited with the same martial qualities as were attributed to the Malays, allowing them to become prominent players in politics and power struggles at the court. 45 *** The Dutch sources are also helpful in further completing the picture of a cosmopolitan trading community in Phnom Penh. Van Gaelen reports in great detail the way he was introduced into Cambodia‟s commerce by Japanese traders who had close relations with the VOC in Batavia. The earlier mentioned published accounts relate of the presence of Vietnamese from Cochin China, as well as Chinese and Portuguese, with whom the Dutch had some serious confrontations. 46 5 International Symposium The Changing Mekong: Pluralistic Societies under Siege. Khon Kaen (Thailand): Center for Research on Plurality in the Mekong Region (CERP) and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, 28-30 June 2004 Especially the relations with the Portuguese soured rapidly in the second half of 1641, after the murder of the Dutch merchant Jeremias van Wael and a bootswain of the ship De Sayer by Portuguese in Phnom Penh. Although the Dutch filed a case against the Portuguese with the Cambodian court, they also retaliated on their own accord by attacking two Cambodian ships carrying Portuguese owned goods bound for Japan. Captain Abel Tasman, commander of the Oost-Cappel, succeeded in capturing one of the vessels and seizing its cargo. When the Portuguese learned of this in January 1642 they, in turn, sued the Dutch for the return of their cargo. This state of affairs would prove crucial for what transpired in Cambodia during the next two years. The reign of RamadhipatiI in the Cambodian chronicles The chronicles generally agree that the motivation for Chao Ponhea Cand to turn against his uncle Uday and cousin Padumaraja was that he thought to have a stronger claim to the throne, because his own father, Jayajettha, and his brothers Chao Ponhea Tu and Chao Ponhea Nur, had all been kings before. Most of them also agree that the prince eventually acted in the Year of the Snake, third of the decade – corresponding to 1641/1642.47 The DV chronicle further mentions that Chao Ponhea Cand had assured himself of the support of four important army commanders, the name of at least one of them sounds Malay: Mantri Tejah Mas.48 Together with these allies Chao Ponhea Cand allegedly assaulted the regent and the king in their palaces and had them killed; only three younger sons of the regent were spared after an intervention by the usurper‟s „step-mother‟, theVietnamese dowager of former King Jayajettha.49 Having taken control of the palaces the prince now confronted the mandarins, who – as stated by chronicle texts – agreed with the usurper that the regent had acted against tradition and that he had redressed the situation in a just fashion. They subsequently invited him to take the throne, on which occasion he was given the title Ramadhipati I. 50 After this rather brief description of his ascension to the throne, only three of chronicle texts shift to provide an account of the background of the king‟s conversion to Islam. 51 According to them, at some unspecified point in time, the king was on an outing in Sri Sa Jhar province, where he encountered either a Malay or Cham girl, identified as Nan Hvah or Nan Vas‟. Enamored by the girl, he arranged for an introduction to her family. The DV chronicle contains the most details, claiming the girl‟s father was a descendant from the Po Cai, the royal line of Champa. It is also this chronicle, which explicitly states at this early stage that the king had to convert to Islam, before being allowed to consort with Nan Hvah/ Nan Vas‟.52 After having sojourned for a number of days in the Malay village, the king resolved to take the girl as a concubine to the capital. It is at this point that the VJ version embarks on a detailed description of a ritual that is enacted in the Malay village, prior to the king‟s departure -- with Nan Hvah/ Nan Vas‟ -- to the royal court.: “Then, Nan Mah [the mother of Nan Hvah/ Nan Vas‟, ck] gathered her friends, parents, as well as the elder Cham and Malays. When they were all there, she presented offerings to the spirits of the dead, as is the tradition among the Cham and Malays. Then Duon [Tuan, ck] Cer, who was the religious leader and who possessed an ancient kris, carried it to present it to the king. At the same time he demanded permission to douse him with water that had been charmed with magic spells. The king consented. Duon Cer [then] recited love spells to introduce them into the water so that the king‟s heart would become tender, and make him fall even deeper in love with Nan Hvah.” 53 The DV chronicle adds that there were actually four Muslim religious leaders. In a note Mak Phoeun claims that, for their co-religionists, this quartet represented the four caliphs that were instated by the prophet Muhammad.54 In my opinion Mak Phoeun is mistaken in that assumption. Muhammad died 6 International Symposium The Changing Mekong: Pluralistic Societies under Siege. Khon Kaen (Thailand): Center for Research on Plurality in the Mekong Region (CERP) and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, 28-30 June 2004 without leaving any instructions for his succession. Moreover, it is highly unlikely that the four religious leaders referred to were considered to represent the first four successors of Muhammad – collectively know as the “Four Righteous Caliphs.” It makes more sense to assume that the four religious chiefs stand for the heads of the four orthodox schools of law that are recognized in Sunni Islam. 55 The described rituals read very much like the practices of a Malay spirit doctor or bomoh, a very important figure in traditionalist Malay Muslim society. Presenting the king with a kris, a dagger with a curved blade, also fits into the image of Malay culture, where it is considered an important heirloom (kris pusaka) and symbol of royal power. Often the kris is invested with special powers by casting a spell over it.56 The text then continues with the observation that the Malay and Cham continued to present the king with gifts. They also kept Nan Hvah steadily supplied with charmed water to drink and bathe in. She also made sure that the king drank from the water and douses himself with it. Consequently his love for the Muslim concubine increased to such a degree that he conferred the title „August Queen of the Left‟ upon Nan Hvah and then appointed certain Cham and Malays as mandarins with authority over the whole of Cambodia‟s Muslim community.57 The DV Chronicle elaborates further by stating that she became chief concubine with the title Anak Brah Mae Nan Savas Puppha and that her father was elevated to the title Pudesavaj. From that day onward all princesses of the interior and exterior where placed under the control of Anak Brah Mae Nan Savas Puppha, and her father Cai Sun (Pudesavaj) was put at the head of the Cham and Malay community, while the four earlier mentioned military commanders took charge of all soldiers. 58 Subsequently, Chronicles VJ and P63 state that in the Year of the Cock, seventh of the Decade during the month Kattik – corresponding to the season during which the Malays congregate [in their mosques?] – the king traveled with the august queens, concubines, and royal servants to the village of the Cham and Malay, where the following events took place: “Cham and Malays came to bring gifts for the king, as well as magical water for him to bathe in. After he had washed, the Malay religious leader prostrated himself and spoke to the king about embracing the religion of Muhammad. Under the influence of the magical formulas the King accepted to embrace the religion of the Cham and Malay.” 59 If the dating is correct this should have taken place in 1645AD.60 With regard to the expression „the season during which the Malays congregate”, it could be surmised that this refers to the Muslim practice to attend evening prayers in the mosque during Ramadan, the month of fasting. According to the Muslim calendar in 1645 Ramadan would have been during the months of October and November. In this context it is very interesting to note that the chronicle known as P57 takes a different view of the motivation for King Ramadhipati to convert to Islam. According to that text this had nothing to do with marrying a Muslim girl, instead it claims that the real reason behind it was remorse. This is corroborated by the DV Chronicle, which adds similar causes, apart from the initial reason of wanting to marry the Muslim girl. The lengthy descriptions of the king‟s considerations contain such fascinating details that they are worthwhile quoting entirely: “When he thought about having killed his uncle (the king, [sic!]) he started to worry, because he was afraid of the bad fruits (resulting from his acts). Therefore, every day he performed meritorious acts and listened continuously to sermons. Having no peace of mind, he asked the august monks: “Which meritorious acts should I perform to deliver myself from the sin, resulting from killing my uncle, who was a younger brother of my father?” The monks responded: “There are no tracts that prescribe how one can absolve oneself by meritorious acts” 7 International Symposium The Changing Mekong: Pluralistic Societies under Siege. Khon Kaen (Thailand): Center for Research on Plurality in the Mekong Region (CERP) and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, 28-30 June 2004 Having heard that, the king became more and more distressed. [Then] He appealed to the religious leaders of the Malays, asking them: “What do the religious tracts of Muhammad‟s religion say about the subject of one who has killed his uncle or father? Can he accumulate such merit that it would absolve him from sin?” The religious leaders of the Malays said: “There are Malay tracts [saying something on the topic]” He then made them explain in detail the various explanations according to the religion of Muhammad.” 61 DV further combines the motivation of remorse with a more pragmatic consideration: “The King thought: “The Khmer have already been subjugated to me, only the Cham and Malays have not yet shown me their respect and fidelity. If I accept their religion, I will gain the hand of Nan Vas‟ while, at the same time, the Cham and Malays will give me their allegiance. If Ang Sur and Ang Tan [two surviving sons of Uday, ck] want to betray me, then I will still have the Cham and Malays to count on. The king was worried, he feared [that he would suffer] a bad fate because of the killing of his uncle and the latter‟s son. Therefore, he consulted the senior monks “For the mistake that I have commited, which meritorious act should I accomplish to deliver myself?” Sugandh and the Rajagana replied: “Merit and sin do not balance each other out like lending and borrowing [money]. Each determines its own fruits. If one performs a lot of good deeds one shall have a good destiny, if one commits many bad acts, one will suffer a bad fate. There are no Buddhist texts stating that [good and bad acts] can cancel each other out.” Now then, the four religious [Muslim] chiefs prostrated themselves to speak to the king: “The religion of Muhammad has said, that if someone embraces the [Muslim] religion because of its qualities, then Muhammad may take on one‟s sins instead; he will never allow his followers to suffer. On the other hand, the august canon has said that: If someone enters the august temple and is then able to unite with his mother, or one of his aunts – that is his own aunts or those of his wife -- then it can be said that person has found the precious disc of birth. If such a person commits any bad acts, or even kills one hundred, even a thousand times – the fruits of those acts will never catch up with him.” 62 The VJ chronicle then describes how the king demanded from his „ministers, mandarins, and royal servants in all departments‟ that they also enter „the religion of Allah‟. Those who refused to do so wiould be expelled from royal service. Fearful of the consequences all dignitaries agree dto do as the king has ordered. The chronicle proceeds with a description of the circumcision ceremony. After the operation had been performed the most important Malay religious leader, Tuan Cer, ordered the foreskins to be carried away and deposited in „a Malay temple‟ in the village of Khleang Sbek.63 According to Mak Phoeun the name „Khleang Sbek‟ means „storehouse of skins‟ and it is located in Ban Li , Kantal province.64 The DV chronicle adds that sandalwood was burned in honor of the removed foreskins. 65 The episode is concluded with the observation that from then on the inhabitants of the kingdom called the king „Ramma Cul Sasn‟ or „The king who has entered the religion [of Islam]. 66 Following this conversion, the king introduced a number of elements borrowed from Malay court ceremony. All members of the royal family had to wear long tunics and carry a kris. According to the P57 text the king often wore a Malay outfit and had a golden kris fashioned for himself, which was kept with 8 International Symposium The Changing Mekong: Pluralistic Societies under Siege. Khon Kaen (Thailand): Center for Research on Plurality in the Mekong Region (CERP) and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, 28-30 June 2004 the royal regalia until the time of the writing of the chronicle. For the courtiers wearing a long tunic became also mandatory, in addition to that they had to carry a betel box and kris when they came to greet the king on official occasions.67 The section on King Ramadhipati‟s conversion to Islam ends with the gloomy observation that due to the delusions caused by the spells cast over the king by the Cham and Malays, the ruler had forgotten about the Buddhism, neglected temples, monasteries, and the scriptures As a result monks, novices and the general population became dissatisfied because of the king‟s lack of consideration for them. But the Cham and Malays, on the contrary, used the opportunity to built Muslim „viharns‟ at various locations in the realm. The kris that had been offered by the Malay religious chief was kept by a group of royal masters known as the purohit in the Pançasetr Pavilion until the time of writing.68 Following this exposé the chronicles leapfrog to the rebellion of the king‟s cousins Ang Sur and Ang Tan in 1658, with the support of a Vietnamese army, which heralded the end of Ramadhipati‟s reign. 69 This episode contains very few further references to Muslim influences. The only explicit mention is in connection with the king‟s abandonment by his ministers on the battlefield because he had killed Uday, the father of the rebelling princes, and converted to the religion of the Cham and Malays. In the same context there is a brief note that the Cham and Malays acted as the royal guards in the battlefield lineup.70 What is finally worth mentioning is the statement in chronicle P57, where it says that, upon the deposed king‟s death in Vietnam his body was cremated and that his ashes were interred at a chedi in Braeng Nagar, while the royal kris was carried back to Oudong.71 This is remarkable because cremation is not commonly practiced by Muslims and begs the question how deep Ramadhipati‟s commitment to Islam really was. The reign of Ramadhipati I according to Dutch sources The booklet Vremde Geschiedenissen in de Koninckrijcken van Cambodia en Louwen-lant in OostIndien is the earliest published source containing information on Chao Ponhea Cand usurpation of power and what subsequently transpired during the first two years of his rule, in as far as it was relevant for the VOC‟s position in Cambodia.72 François Valentyn basically copied this episode for his chapter on Cambodia, and added a summary account of events until 1672.73 Apart from these publications, complementary and often more detailed information can be derived from archive material, selections of which were included in Muller‟s collection of documents on the VOC in Cambodia and Laos, released in 1917. As mentioned before, the Dutch interest was mainly in commercial issues, but political events that had an impact on the VOC‟s trade were also included. 74 The narrative in Vremde Geschiedenissen gives a very graphic depiction of Chao Ponhea Cand‟s assault on the king and the regent, adding details that are not mentioned in the royal chronicles. First of all the account alleges that it was a slave-servant of Chao Ponhea Cand, who suggested to involve the regent‟s chamberlain in the plot. Next follows a description of how the conspirators attack the king during a nightly game of cards with other dignitaries.75 It is at this point that the story in Vremde Geschiedenissen starts to deviate from the royal chronicles. According to the Dutch version the usurpers killed not only the regent, but went after his mandarins and other dignitaries who happened to be present as well. The next morning the commanders of all foreign communities were ordered to report to the court, together with their men in arms. A very interesting detail in this context is the observation that the leader of the Malay community was reluctant to do so and demanded assurances that the regent was indeed dead.76 The man in question was then seized and taken to the court, where he was immediately executed on the new kings‟ orders. The account of King Padumaraja‟s death is also different. In Strange Events the king was hunting elephants in an area to the south of the capital. There he was tracked down by a three thousand-man strong army and put to death.77 But the killing spree was still not over, because the book continues with a chilling description of the continued persecution, torture and execution of surviving courtiers and other senior officials. When the 9 International Symposium The Changing Mekong: Pluralistic Societies under Siege. Khon Kaen (Thailand): Center for Research on Plurality in the Mekong Region (CERP) and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, 28-30 June 2004 story shifts to the fate of the three younger sons of Uday, it initially appears as if Vremde Geschiedenissen agrees with the royal chronicles. The book confirms that the three children were given sanctuary in a monastery. However, a little further on it is reported that, about a year later -- having mustered the support of more than a thousand men – the young princes were ready to challenge the usurper, but were betrayed. Contrary to the royal chronicles, the Dutch account reports that the two older sons were executed and that only the youngest was saved by the Vietnamese dowager.78 Finally the Dutch accounts mention an issue about which the royal chronicles remain entirely silent. 79 According to Strange Events, after seizing the throne, Chao Ponhea Cand initially shared power with an older brother, but shortly afterwards he decided to rid himself of this sibling as well. Accusing his brother of having committed adultery with his wife, referred to as „Perkees Satry‟ (Brah Dav Khsatrîy?), he had him arrested and executed.80 This story is corroborated by a primary document, namely the journal kept by the chief merchant in Cambodia, Pieter van Regemortes. In this document we find a first entry for April 2, 1642, stating that the king had set his brother‟s house on fire. The chief merchant continues that he seriously doubted the veracity of the allegations. On April 8, he writes that the brother had been captured, and two days later we read that the prince had been “beheaded by a Japanese”. In the same entry he also reported that „Perkees Satry‟ had been stripped of all her possessions and servants, mutilated and killed -- but in a later entry (June 13) it appears she was still alive.81 This elaborate description of the cruelties perpetrated during the initial months of Ramadhipati‟s reign apparently served to set up the Dutch interpretation of the king‟s conversion to Islam. Having rid himself of anybody of royal blood capable of challenging his authority: “[…] he still did not have complete peace of mind and decided to opt for another religion. Giving up paganism, he had himself circumcised and adopted the creed of Mahomet. He became very close to the Malay and Javanese nations, granting them great freedom and selecting a bodyguard from among them. He maintained a correspondence with Japara, who are Javanese and very hostile towards the Christians.” 82 Before evaluating the reasons that have been put forward in the Dutch texts for Ramadhipati‟s conversion, we should first take a closer look at the supposed timing of the event. According to the information derived from the royal chronicles the conversion took place somewhere between 1643 and 1645. But Vremde Geschiedenissen appears to imply that the king converted not long after having eradicated all his potential challengers, which -- as the journal of van Regemortes has shown – happened already during the first few months of Ramadhipati‟s reign. That same source also contains concrete information on the king‟s conversion. On November 13, 1642, the king had a decision promulgated by which the raising, slaughtering and sale of pigs was prohibited, because “the king intended to become entirely Malay [that is Muslim – note by editor Muller] in his behavior, except for drinking alcohol.” The entry for November 16, states that the king had the intention to adopt Islamic Law and have himself circumcised.83 These are the clearest indications that Ramadhipati had become a Muslim within a year of seizing power.84 The Dutch sources appear to agree with the DV chronicle that the king‟s conversion to Islam was motivated by a combination of remorse (“having no peace of mind”) and political expediency (“becoming very close to the Malay and Javanese nations”). Both reasons seem quite plausible. The diary of van Regemortes, for example -- which minutely records the difficult negotiations taking place between VOC representatives, the Portuguese and the Cambodian court, during the Summer and Fall of 1642, to resolve the difficulties surrounding the murder of the two Dutchmen and the subsequent seizing of Portuguese cargo by the Oostcappel – contains many references to the king‟s state of drunkenness, prolonged absences, or plain unwillingness to deal with state affairs. 85 It seems not unreasonable to interpret that as signs of a troubled mind. 10 International Symposium The Changing Mekong: Pluralistic Societies under Siege. Khon Kaen (Thailand): Center for Research on Plurality in the Mekong Region (CERP) and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, 28-30 June 2004 The great influence of the Malays in Cambodia was already clear even before the king‟s decision to become a Muslim. A survey of the text of van Regemortes 1642 journal shows the repeated mention of apparently prominent Malays. Two figures who stand out in particular are Inche Lanang and Inche Assam. 86 The first one was a merchant from Pattani, who played a prominent role in the trade between Batavia and Cambodia, and who also participated in the Dutch expedition to Laos in 1641-42. The other one was also a trader with Dutch connections. He would remain influential throughout the reign of Ramadhipati, because in later documes we read that he was effectively running the royal monopoly on international trade.87 Van Regemortes also mentions a „Tevina Mantrijnchit‟, a close confidant and boon companion of the king. Possibly he can be identified with Mantri Tejah Mas, one of the four army commanders who supported Ramadhipati in his bid for power. 88 To the Dutch, Ramadhipati‟s embracing of Islam was also crucial for explaining the 1643 massacre of the VOC officials in Cambodia. They were certain that the Portuguese had been able to secure the help of the “Malays and Javanese,” exploiting the latter‟s close connections with the king, in order to outmaneuver the Dutch. Reconstructing the events that led to the killing of many Dutchmen in Phnom Penh on November 27, 1643, is hampered by a paucity of sources from late 1642 onwards. Part of the reason was the prolonged absences of senior staff members after the Summer of 1642. Van Regemortes colleague, Herman Broeckman (Harmen Brouckman(s)), was sent to Japan from June 1642 until January 1643; Van Regemortes himself traveled to Batavia for new instructions in December 1642 and did not return until the Fall of 1643; in June 1643, the under-merchant Wusthof was given permission to depart for Taiwan.89 Apart from that, it is likely that important documents were lost in the turmoil following the assassinations. Anecdotal evidence from messages sent by Herman Broeckman to the governor general and council of India in Batavia shows that relations were deteriorating in the course of 1643. Furthermore, Pieter van Regemortes had only agreed to return to Cambodia if the rank of ambassador were conferred upon him; mistakenly believing that this would offer him better protection.. Within two months of his return in Cambodia, van Regemortes, Broeckman, together with a few dozen others were murdered, while sixty surviving men were taken captive.90 For the next decade after that event the Dutch records are silent about Cambodia. A punitive expedition in 1644, in which five ships were dispatched to Cambodia, ended in disaster. Four of the five ships were ambushed near Phnom Penh and 120 men, including the flotilla commander, perished. The only snippet of information that gives some idea about what had transpired a year early is an entry in deputy commander Simon Domckens‟ journal, which reports that thirty-five Dutchmen had been massacred, more than fifty had survived, and that the godown had been destroyed by Malays and Japanese. 91 A later report states that the Dutch fleet was attacked by one of the VOC‟s own ships, the Orangieboom, which had been captured during the massacre of 1643, and was now manned by Portuguese, Malays, and Japanese.92 It was only towards the end of Ramadhipati/Ibrahim‟s reign that the VOC sent a new mission to Cambodia. In the report of the two merchants, Hendrick Indijck and Pieter Kettingh, we read that, in 1656, they found the Cambodian king not in his palace, but living on a houseboat – because, about a yearand-a-half earlier, he had been advised by the monks that he would be in grave danger if he would not leave his palace for three years. Ironically, the duo is accommodated in the vacant house of a recently beheaded Japanese, who is thought to have been the main instigator of the 1643 massacre. The same report also states that the king was “dressed in Malay style, wearing a beautiful turban” and that he was extremely cruel.93 From some of the later letters by Indijck and Kettingh we learn that the king was still frequently drunk and that by 1657, the earlier mentioned Malay trader Inche Assam had become the most powerful merchant in the country. When the Dutch reappeared, Inche Assam succeeded in having a Malay stooge of his appointed as the new Dutch Shahbandar or chief intermediary with the court – probably in order to secure his control of the royal monopoly. 94 11 International Symposium The Changing Mekong: Pluralistic Societies under Siege. Khon Kaen (Thailand): Center for Research on Plurality in the Mekong Region (CERP) and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, 28-30 June 2004 One of the last reports from the reign of Ramadhipati is a letter of Pieter Kettingh, written in March 1658, with detailed information on the situation in Cambodia during the revolt of Ang Sur and Ang Tan.95 From this document we learn that the rebels had been able to raise a much larger army, consisting of Cambodians and Cochinchinese (Vietnamese), than the king, who had to rely mainly on his Malay troops. A revealing passage is Kettingh‟s report of a letter by Ang Sur (called Nac Monton in his letter) to Ramadhipati, in which he claimed to be willing to recognize and respect the king‟s authority provided he would get rid of the Malays. Ramadhipati responded sarcastically that „he was well aware of Nac Monton‟s sinister ruse, knowing fully well that His Majesty was a Moorish Malay himself.” 96 From Kettingh‟s letter we can also discern that the conflict had become further „internationalized‟ by Ramadipadhi and his ally, Ang Im (.a.k.a Kaev Hva) – the younger brother of Ang Sur and Ang Tan. Portuguese mercenaries had been employed by Ramadhipati since he had come to power, but now he and Ang Im tried to drag Danish and British merchants into the conflict. The Dutch succeeded in remaining neutral, but in the final section of his letter, Kettingh warned against the possible repercussions this might have if Ramadhipati would emerge victorious. 97 Soon afterwards the Dutch decided tovacate the godown and would not return to Cambodia until 1664.98 Conclusion The big question that hangs over the reign of this Muslim Cambodian King is the exact motivation for embracing Islam and how sincere this king‟s conversion to Islam actually was. Mak Phoeun has enumerated elaborated on the reasons mentioned in ther royal chronicles and Dutch writings. Apart from his wish to marry a Malay girl, remorse for the way he came to power, and securing support from Cambodia‟s Muslim community, Mak Phoeun suggests Ramadhipati may also have wanted to mark a difference with his nemesis, the king of Ayutthaya. Another reason may have been that he hoped to gain better access to Southeast Asia‟s maritime trade network, which was – as has been explained earlier on – dominated by Malays.99 As for this last reason, Mak Phoeun is of the opinion that there is no evidence that any closer relations with Malay states in the region materialized, but in Strange Events it was explicitly mentioned that, after his conversion, Ramadhipati/Ibrahim started to correspond with ruler of Japara.100 Japara was a Muslim sultanate on the north coast of Java, and vehemently anti-Christian as Strange Events has it. Not unlikely, since the Dutch had sacked the port town in 1618.101 In judging the reasons and nature of Ramadhipati‟s conversion it is instructive to take into consideration the process of Islamization in neighboring Champa. Po Dharma has made a study of a number of Cham texts relating the story of the influence that two Malay Muslim princes from Kelantan managed to exercise over politics and religion in Panduranga, a state in southern Champa, during an unspecified era.102 The story relates that the two princes, confronted with an apparently politically marginalized Muslim community (cam bani), suggest – having married into the royal family of Panduranga – certain reforms that would recognize Muslim religious functionaries as paid state officials on par with the Brahmin priests. The Cham king consented to this proposal, as well as the further suggestion that, in order to preserve political unity and avoid religious quarrels, Allah – henceforth referred to as Po Allah – be recognized as creator of the world. The texts state that this acceptance of Po Allah did not imply a conversion to Islam by either the court or the non-Muslim population, because all people, regardless their religious traditions, originated from the Creator anyway. Moreover, the king retained his sacred status, although he found himself partaking in certain Islamic ceremonies alongside the performance of traditional religious rituals. According to Po Dharma even the fact that ultimately Allah was given primacy in the Cham Pantheon is not presented by the texts in question as an Islamization of the Cham, because those adhering to the traditional religion (cam jat) continued to perform their rituals.103 Mak Phoeun has also drawn attention to the observation of the merchants Kettingh and Indijck of the king‟s decision to live on a houseboat after receiving ominous predictions from the „papists‟. He sees this 12 International Symposium The Changing Mekong: Pluralistic Societies under Siege. Khon Kaen (Thailand): Center for Research on Plurality in the Mekong Region (CERP) and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, 28-30 June 2004 as an indication that the king had not completely relinquished his traditional beliefs. It is however quite possible that such signs of a bad omen did not come from Buddhist clerics, but through Malay spirit doctors or bomohs – the term „papists could refer to both Buddhist monks and Muslim religious leaders alike. But there is also a very interesting reference to a visit to Angkor in 1656 – why would a Muslim monarch visit such a place? 104 It is possible that Malay or Cham sources contain important information that might clarify this issue or at least complete the picture a bit further. From the start of the seventeenth century we also find the first surviving writings by Southeast Asians on things Islamic. Mystically inclined figures like Hamza Fansuri (d. 1590?), Shamsuddin al-Sumatrani (1630), Abd al-Rauf al-Sinkili (d. 1693) have left an indelible mark on Southeast Asian Islam. To what extent may Ramadhipati have been aware of these developments? Moreover, we should not lose eye of the fact that the middle of the seventeenth century was an extremely tumultuous period. By the 1630s the Dutch had succeeded in defeating the military powerful Javanese state of Mataram, becoming the unchallenged power in what would become the Dutch East Indies. In the same time period, Japan had effectively closed itself off by the so-called five Sakoku (“National Seclusion”) Edicts. In 1641 the VOC conquered Malacca from the Portuguese – an important factor in explaining the hostility, which the latter exhibited against the Dutch in Cambodia. Rivalry between western European states was also on the rise, as English, Danish, and later also the French, started to compete with the Dutch for a share in the so-called „rich trade‟ of Asia. In 1644 China saw the fall of the Ming dynasty and rise of the Manchus. Maybe that Ramadhipati was searching for reassurance by allying himself with a non-Western religious tradition, one that he regarded as more vigorous than Cambodian‟s own Hindu-Buddhist legacy? The answer may lie in as yet unexamined source material. References Anon., Vremde Geschiedenissen in de Koninckrijcken van Cambodia en Louwen-lant in Oost-Indien. Zedert den iare 1635 tot den iare 1644 aldaar voor-gevallen. Haarlem: Pieter Casteleyn, 1669. Buch, W.J.M., “La Compagnie des Indes Néerlandaises et l‟Indochine.” In Bulletin d’École Française d’Extrême Orient 37, 1937, pp. 121-237. Cabaton, A., “Les Hollandais au Cambodge au XVIIe Siècle.” In: Revue de l’Histoire des Colonies Françaises. 1914, pp. 129-220. Cabaton, A., “Les Hollandais au Cambodge et Laos au XVIIe siècle.” In: Tijdschrift van het Koninklijk Nederlands Aardrijkskundig Genootschap, 2e ser., vol. XXXVI, 1919 Dijk, Mr. L.C.D. van, Neerland’s vroegste betrekkingen met Borneo, den Solo-Archipel, Cambodja, Siam en Cochin-China. Amsterdam: Scheltema, 1862 Grünebaum, G.E. von, Der Islam II II - Die islamischen Reiche nach dem Fall von Konstantinopel. Fischer Weltgeschichte vol. 16. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, 1971 Kersten, Carool, Strange Events in the Kingdoms of Cambodia and Laos (1635-1644). Bangkok: White Lotus Press, 2003 Kersten, Carool, “A Brief Note on Japanese-Dutch Relations in Seventeenth-Century Cambodia” Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, fourth series, vol. 17, 2002-3, pp. 100-106. 13 International Symposium The Changing Mekong: Pluralistic Societies under Siege. Khon Kaen (Thailand): Center for Research on Plurality in the Mekong Region (CERP) and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, 28-30 June 2004 Mak Phoeun, Les Chroniques Royales du Cambodge (1594-1677). Paris: EFEO, 1981 Mak Phoeun & Po Dharma, “La première intervention militaire vietnamienne au Cambodge (1658-1659)” In: BEFEO 1984, t. LXXIII, pp. 285-318 Mak Phoeun, “ La communauté cam au Cambodge du XVe au XIXe siècle. Historique de son implantation et son role dans la vie politique Khmère.” In: Actes du Séminaire sur la Campâ organize à l’Université de Copenhague le 23 mai 1987. Paris: Travaux du Centre d‟histoire et civilizations de la péninsule indochinoise, 1988, pp. 83-93 Mak Phoeun, Histoire du Cambodge de la fin du XVIe siècle au début du XVIIIe. Paris: Ecole Française d‟Extrême-Orient monographies no. 176, 1995 P.-B. Lafont a.o., Le Monde Indochinois et la Peninsule Malaise. Kuala Lumpur: Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Malaysia & French Embassy in Malaysia, 1990 Manguin, P.Y., “Etudes cam. II. Introduction de l‟Islam au Campâ.” In: BEFEO, 1979, t. LXVI. Muller, Dr. Hendrik P.N., Azië Gespiegeld I: Reisverhalen en Studiën. De Philippijnen – Siam – Fransch Indo-China – Korea – Mantsjoerije – De Siberische Weg. Utrecht: H. Honig, 1912 Muller, Dr. Hendrik P.N., De Oost-Indische Compagnie in Cambodja en Laos: Verzameling van Bescheiden van 1636 tot 1670. The Hague: Van Linschooten Vereeniging XIII, 1917. Ner, Marcel, “Les musulmans de l‟Indochine Française.” In: BEFEO, 1941, t. XLI, fasc. 2. Quiroga de San Antonio, Gabriel, A Brief and Truthful Relation of Events in the Kingdom of Cambodia. Bangkok: White Lotus Press, 1998 Reid, Anthony, Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce 1450-1680: Volume two: Expansion and Crisis. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1993 Valentyn, Francçois, Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indien. Dordrecht en Amsterdam: Joannes Braam & Gerard under de Linden, 1724-1726. Reissued as Beschryving van Oost-Indiën, 8 volumes. Leeuwarden: Uitgeverij van Wijnen, 2002-2004 Vickery, Michael , Cambodia after Angkor. The Chronicular Evidence for the Fourteenth to Sixteenth Centuries. Volumes I and II. PhD Thesis. New Haven: Yale University, 1977. Winkel, Dr., “Les relations de la Hollande avec le Cambodge et la Cochinchine au SXVIIe siècle.” In Extrait de Excursions et Reconnaissances Vol. 4 (1881), No. 12, pp. 492-514 1 One of the greatest authorities on Cambodian history, Mak Phoeun opens his chapter on the reign of Rāmādhipatī I with the observation that: “Le règne du roi Rāmādhipatī Ier (Cau Bañā Cand) fut marqué – fait sans précédent, mais aussi sans suite, dans l‟histoire khmère – par la conversion du monarque à une religion étrangère, en l‟occurrence l‟Islam.” 14 International Symposium The Changing Mekong: Pluralistic Societies under Siege. Khon Kaen (Thailand): Center for Research on Plurality in the Mekong Region (CERP) and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, 28-30 June 2004 Cf., Mak Phoeun, Histoire du Cambodge de la fin du XVIe siècle au début du XVIIIe. Paris: Ecole Française d‟Extrême-Orient monographies no. 176, 1995, p. 253. Anthony Reid quotes the Cambodian chronicle‟s description of Rāmādhipatī I conversion at the beginning of the section on “the Muslim Challenge in Mainland Southeast Asia” in his seminal study on early modern Southeast Asian history: cf. Anthony Reid, Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce 1450-1680: Volume two: Expansion and Crisis. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1993, p. 186. The event was apparently considered even spectacular enough to merit mention in Gustav von Grünebaum‟s classic Der Islam II - Die islamischen Reiche nach dem Fall von Konstantinopel: “Islamischen Tscham und Malaien standen hinter dem Versuch des Königs Rama Thupdey Chan (Ibrahim, 1642-1659), Kamboscha den Islam aufzozwingen, und hinter seinem Holländermassaker. Auch nach seimen Sturz blieben sie in kambodschas Politik aktiv.” Cf. Gustav von Grünebaum, Der Islam II - Die islamischen Reiche nach dem Fall von Konstantinopel. Fischer Weltgeschichte vol. 16. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer Tashenbuch Verlag, 1971, p. 2 Mak Phoeun, Chroniques Royales du Cambodge (de 1594 à 1677). Traduction Française avec Comparaison des Différentes Versions et Introduction. Collection de Textes et Documents sur l‟Indochine XIII. Paris: École Française d‟Extrême-Orient, 1981, pp. 1-34. According to Mak Phoeun there exist at least thirty different versions of various length, Ibid, n. 1, p. 4. In his introduction he enumerates sixteen of them, Ibid, pp. 4-10. 3 Mak Phoeun, Chroniques Royales du Cambodge, p. 1; Not until 1972 was a re-translation into Khmee produced, cf. Mak Phoeun, Histoire du Cambodge de la fin du XVIe siècle au début du XVIIIe, p. 6. 4 The traditionally used calendars are: the Buddha Era (commencing 543 BC), the Greater or Çaka Era (starting in 78 AD), and the Lesser or Culla Era (638 AD), cf., Mak Phoeun, Chroniques Royales du Cambodge, n.1 , p. 11. For complexities ruling the twelve- and ten-year cycles, cf. Ibid, n.1, p. 13. 5 Mak, Phoeun, Chroniques Royales du Cambodge, pp. 37-38. 6 Mak Phoeun, Chroniques Royales du Cambodge, pp. 40-41. 7 Mak, Phoeun, Chroniques Royales du Cambodge, p. 35. 8 Mak Phoeun, Chroniques Royales du Cambodge, pp. 36-37. This remark is probably directed against Michael Vickery‟s thesis that, at least for the fourteenth to the sixteenth centuries, Cambodian chronicles are fictious. Cf., Michael Vickery, Cambodia after Angkor. The Chronicular Evidence for the Fourteenth to Sixteenth Centuries. Volumes I and II. PhD Thesis. New Haven: Yale University, 1977. 9 Mak Phoeun, Chroniques Royales du Cambodge, pp. 42, 47-49. 10 Mak Phoeun, Chroniques Royales du Cambodge, pp. 51-53. 11 Mak Phoeun, Chroniques Royales du Cambodge, pp. 53-55 12 Mak Phoeun, Chroniques Royales du Cambodge, pp. 57-58 13 The gap is caused by the temporary abandoning of trade with Cambodia following the 1643 massacre and failed punitive expedition of 1644. 14 Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie 15 Vremde Geschiedenissen in de Konickrijcken van Cambodia en Louwen-lant in Oost-Indien. Zedert den iare 1635 tot den iare 1644 aldaar voor-gevallen. Haarlem: Pieter Casteleyn, 1669. The author of this book can not be determined with any degree of certainty. Cf., Introduction in: Carool Kersten, Strange Events in the Kingdoms of Cambodia and Laos (1635-1644). Bangkok: White Lotus Press, 2003, p. xxxvii. 16 “Beschryvinge van onsen Handel in Cambodia. Vijfde Boek. Eerste Hoofdstuk” pp. 36-55 In: Francois Valentyn, Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indien. Dordrecht en Amsterdam: Joannes Braam & Gerard under de Linden, 1724-1726. Currently reissued by Uitgeverij van Wijnen, Leeuwarden, 2002-2004. 15 International Symposium The Changing Mekong: Pluralistic Societies under Siege. Khon Kaen (Thailand): Center for Research on Plurality in the Mekong Region (CERP) and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, 28-30 June 2004 17 Dr. Hendrik .P.N. Muller, De Oost-Indische Compagnie in Cambodja en Laos: Verzameling van Bescheiden van 1636 tot 1670. [The Dutch East India Company in Cambodia and Laos: Collection of Documents form 1636 to 1670]. The Hague: Van Linschooten Vereeniging XIII, 1917. 18 Muller wrote a book about that journey: Cf., Muller, Azië Gespiegeld I: Reisverhalen en Studiën. De Philippijnen – Siam – Fransch Indo-China – Korea – Mantsjoerije – De Siberische Weg. Utrecht: H. Honig, 1912. In it he mentions being shown a copy of Vremde Geschiedenissen, cf. op. cit., p. 285. 19 Carool Kersten, Strange Events in the Kingdoms of Cambodia and Laos (1635-1644). Bangkok: White Lotus Press, 2003. 20 They are the diaries or journals kept by the merchant commissioned with opening a new godown in Phnom Penh in 1636, Jan (van) Galen, and the individual who headed that Dutch trading post from 1640 until 1643, Pieter Regemortes: “Journael in Cambodia van jan Dirckxz Gaelen, 18 Juni 1636 tot 8 November 1626.” In: Muller, De Oost-Indische Compagnie, pp. 61-124; “Dagh-Register van „t gepasseerde op „t Nederlants comptooir in den Rijcke van Cambodia „t zedert den 25en Maert A° 1642, dat de fluijt de Rogh naer Battavia verseijlt is, tot dato (6. Dec. 1642, door Pieter van Regemortes).” In: Ibid, 247-329. 21 Mak Phoeun, Chroniques Royales du Cambodge, p. 3. 22 Kersten, Strange Events, pp. xiii-xiv. For a detailed description: cf., Gabriel Quiroga de San Antonio, A Brief and Truthful Relation of Events in the Kingdom of Cambodia . Bangkok: White Lotus, 1998, p. 10 ff. This is an English translation of Antoine Cabaton‟s 1914 Brève et Véridique Relation des Evénements du Cambodge, based on the Spanish original Breve y verdadera relacion des los successos del Reyno de Camboxa, published in 1604 by S. Pablo de Valladolid.Cf., also: Mak Phoeun, Histoire du Cambodge, pp. 64-66, 78-79; ” and “La Communauté Malaise Musulmane au Cambodge” In: Le Monde Indochinois et la Peninsule Malaise. Contributions de la Delegation Française au deuxième congres internationale sur la civilization Malaise organize par le Ministère de la Culture et du Tourisme de Malaisie. Kuala Lumpur: 1990, pp. 54-58; Reid, Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce, p. 188 23 Laksamana (Mal.): a naval chief or admiral. In the case of Cambodia it effectively meant the leader of the expatriate Malay community. 24 In his introduction to the Royal Chronicles of Cambodia, Mak Phoeun has recorded 1601 as the year of Paramarājā VII‟s ascension to the throne, cf. Mak Phoeun, Chroniques Royales du Cambodge, p. 3. 25 Carool Kersten, “A Brief Note on Japanese-Dutch Relations in Seventeenth-Century Cambodia” In: Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan, fourth series, vol. 17, 2002-3, pp. 100-106 26 Kersten, Strange Events, pp. xv. 27 Only in 1618 did the king formally renounce his vassal status toward Siam, Kersten, Strange Events, p. xv; Mak Phoeun, Histoire du Cambodge, p. 143-145; George Vinal Smith, The Dutch in SeventeenthCentury Thailand. Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Special Report no. 16. DeKalb: Northern Illinois University, 1977, pp. 17-18. 28 Mak Phoeun, Histoire du Cambodge, p. 142. 29 He was born in 1604/5 out of a marriage with the daughter of a (former) minister of the palace, (Mak Phoeun, Histoire du Cambodge, p. 160). 30 Mak Phoeun, Histoire du Cambodge, p. 192, 196. The princess Ang Vatī was thus a half-sister of Chao Ponhea Tu, her mother being the daughter of the first minister in the court of the Ubhayoraj 31 Mak Phoeun, Histoire du Cambodge, pp. 218-219, cf. also Kersten, Strange Events, p. 19. 32 Carool Kersten, Strange Events, p. 19; Mak Phoeun, Histoire du Cambodge, p. 220-221. 33 Mak Phoeun, Histoire du Cambodge, p. 223 34 Mak Phoeun, Histoire du Cambodge, pp. 223ff. He was born in 1613/4 and a full brother of Princess Ang Vatī , Ibid, p. 160. 35 Born in 1620/1 (Mak Phoeun, p. Histoire du Cambodge, p. 241ff). The author of Strange Events calls him Nac Tomeretiat and says that he was 21 years old when he assumed the throne (Kersten, Strange 16 International Symposium The Changing Mekong: Pluralistic Societies under Siege. Khon Kaen (Thailand): Center for Research on Plurality in the Mekong Region (CERP) and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, 28-30 June 2004 Events.., p. 4 and n.15, p. 57; Valentyn, Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indien, p. 39). The name „Nac Tomeretiat‟ is taken as a corruption of Anak Padumaraja or Dhammaraja, cf. Mak Phoeun, Histoire du Cambodge, p. 243 and n. 111, p. 243. 36 Reid, Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce, pp. 64-67, 125-129 37 P-B. Lafont, “Aperçu sur quelques relations maritimes et commerciales entre le monde indochinois et la Péninsule malaise, du XI au XVIII siècle. In: Le Monde Indochinois et la Peninsule Malaise. Contributions de la Delegation Française au deuxième congres internationale sur la civilization Malaise organize par le Ministère de la Culture et du Tourisme de Malaisie. Kuala Lumpur: 1990, pp..3-18. 38 Valentyn, Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indien, p. 42, cf., Reid, Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce, pp. 187188 39 Lafont, “Aperçu.” p. 6. 40 “Journael in Cambodia van jan Dirckxz Gaelen, 18 Juni 1636 tot 8 November 1626.”, In: Muller, De Oost-Indische Compagnie, pp. 80-81. 41 Marcel Ner, “Les musulmans de l‟Indochine Française.” In: Bulletin d’ École Française d’ExtrêmeOrient (BEFEO), 1941, t. XLI, fasc. 2., pp. 181-182. Mak Phoeun mentions explicitly, Pattani, cf., “La Communauté Malaise Musulmane au Cambodge,” p. 50. The Laksamana involved in 1599 uprsing, for example, was a native of Johore: Lafont, “Aperçu” n. 1, p. 5; Mak Phoeun, “La Communauté Malaise Musulmane au Cambodge”, p.57 42 Mak Phoeun, “ La communauté cam au Cambodge du XVe au XIXe siècle. Historique de son implantation et son role dans la vie politique Khmère.” In: Actes du Séminaire sur la Campā organize à l’Université de Copenhague le 23 mai 1987. Paris: Travaux du Centre d‟histoire et civilizations de la péninsule indochinoise, 1988, pp. 83.; Lafont, “Aperçu”, n. 1, p. 4. 43 Mak Phoeun, “ La communauté cam au Cambodge du XVe au XIXe siècle, p. 85; “La Communauté Malaise Musulmane au Cambodge,” p. 52 and p. 61. The issue of the Islamization of the Cham is a complex one. In his investigation of the introduction of Islam to Champa itself, Pierre-Yves Manguin draws attention to the difficulty of establishing any kind of continuity between the Middle Eastern and Chinese testimonials, dating back to the eight to eleventh centuries, of (foreign) Muslim presence in Champa, and the next set of Javanese accounts, which are no older than the fourteenth century. He deduces from this longstanding exposure that the conversion of Champa‟s inhabitants took place under an “inverse scheme”, in which – instead of the royal family taking the initiative to embrace Islam –- the merchants of port cities became Muslim first and the kings, who were dependent on them, followed. Manguin believes this is what happened in Pattani, Brunei, and Macassar between the fifteenth and early seventeenth centuries. It was repeated in Champa in the course of the seventeenth century because, according to the material examined by Manguin, the king still subscribed to Brahmanism in 1607, but had become Muslim by 1676. Cf., Pierre-Yves Manguin, “Etudes cam. II. Introduction de l‟Islam au Campā.” In: BEFEO 1979, t. LXVI., pp. 255-287. 44 Mak Phoeun, “ La communauté cam au Cambodge du XVe au XIXe siècle, p. 85; “La Communauté Malaise Musulmane au Cambodge”, p.47. 45 Apart from the Malay Laksamana involved in the 1599 power struggle, the chronicles also mention the involvement of one Po Rat, believed to have been a Cham chief. Cf., Mak Phoeun, “La communauté cam au Cambodge du XVe au XIXe siècle,” p. 86 and “La Communauté Malaise Musulmane au Cambodge,” p. 55 46 Cf. “Journael in Cambodia van jan Dirckxz Gaelen, 18 Juni 1636 tot 8 November 1636.” In: Muller, De Oost-Indische Compagnie. Cf., also Kersten, Strange Events in the Kingdoms of Cambodia and Laos (1635-1644) and “A Brief Note on Japanese-Dutch Relations in Seventeenth-Century Cambodia.” Regemortes also mentions the presence of Spanish ships with crews consisting of Spaniards, Chinese and Filipinos (from the island of Luzon), cf. II T. Uittreksel. Copie Missives van d. E. Pieter van Regemortes aan de E. Hr. gouv. Paulus Traudenius (Formosa) ende den oppercoopman Johan van Elseracq (Japan) per 17 International Symposium The Changing Mekong: Pluralistic Societies under Siege. Khon Kaen (Thailand): Center for Research on Plurality in the Mekong Region (CERP) and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, 28-30 June 2004 fluyt de Zaayer, geschr. 5 July 1642” In: Muller, De Oost-Indische Compagnie, p. 248. The bad relations between Dutch and Portuguese must be seen in the context of the dragged-out war the Dutch had been fighting against Spain since 1568. When the Spanish king also occupied the Portuguese throne in 1580, the Portuguese were no longer regarded as mere commercial competitors, but enemies of the newly emerged Dutch Republic. Cf. C.R. Boxer, The Portuguese Seaborne Empire 1415-1825. London: Hutchinson, 1969; Jonathan I. Israel, Dutch Primacy in Dutch Ttrade 1585-1740. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1999. 47 Mak Phoeun, Chroniques Royales du Cambodge, pp. 184-185, 341-342. The main text, chronicle VJ, situates the event in the Year of the Tiger or 1639AD, Mak Phoeun, Chroniques Royales du Cambodge, p. 185, n. 4, p. 342. 48 Mak Phoeun, Chroniques Royales du Cambodge,, no. 2, p. 341. The other three were: Mnah Siddhijai Huk, Krai Yodha Uk, Rajatejah Mum. 49 Mak Phoeun, Chroniques Royales du Cambodge,, n. 5, p. 342 50 Mak Phoeun, Chroniques Royales du Cambodge, p. 185; 187; n. 1, p. 343; n.5, p. 345-346. 51 VJ, DV, P63. Cf. Mak Phoeun, Chroniques Royales du Cambodge, n. 4, p. 347. 52 Mak Phoeun, Chroniques Royales du Cambodge, pp. 187-188, pp. 347-348. 53 Mak Phoeun, Chroniques Royales du Cambodge, p. 189. 54 Mak Phoeun, Chroniques Royales du Cambodge,, n. 4, p. 348 55 Namely the Hanafi, Maliki, Hanbali and Shafi‟i schools. It is interesting that apparently all four schools were represented in Cambodia – not verily likely all in this one village – because, generally, Muslims in Southeast Asia generally belong to the Shafī‟ī school. Cf., Ner, “Les musulmans de l‟Indochine Française.”, p. 186. 56 Cf., Reid, Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce. Vol. 1, p. 125. 57 Mak Phoeun, Chroniques Royales du Cambodge, p. 189. The other queen, probably the king‟ chief consort, was Brah Vans Dev, who bore the title Brah Dav Khsatrîy (Ibid, n. 1) 58 Mak Phoeun, Chroniques Royales du Cambodge, n 2., pp. 348-349 59 Mak Phoeun, Chroniques Royales du Cambodge, p. 190. 60 Chronicle P48 places the event in 1565 Çaka Era, Year of the Goat, which would have been in 1643/1644., Mak Phoeun, Chroniques Royales du Cambodge, n. 3 and 5, p. 349. 61 Mak Phoeun, Chroniques Royales du Cambodge, n. 5, pp. 349-350. 62 Ibid 63 Mak Phoeun, Chroniques Royales du Cambodge, p. 190. 64 Mak Phoeun, Chroniques Royales du Cambodge, n. 2, p. 351. 65 Mak Phoeun, Chroniques Royales du Cambodge, n. 1, p. 351. 66 Mak Phoeun, Chroniques Royales du Cambodge, p. 190, n. 3, p. 351. An inscription known as K166 found at Vatt Sri Dul bears the same description. Ibid, n. 4, p. 351. In 1914 Antoine Cabaton observed that the chronicles use the term Sdach Chenh Sasna (king who left the (Buddhist) religion) and Sdach Cul Sasna Chvea (king who has entered the religion of the Jva). Cf., A. Cabaton, “Les Hollandais au Cambodge au XVIIe Siècle.” In: Revue de l’Histoire des Colonies Françaises. 1914, n. 1., p. 177 67 Mak Phoeun, Chroniques Royales du Cambodge, p. 190, n. 5, p. 351. 68 Mak Phoeun, Chroniques Royales du Cambodge, pp. 190-191. 69 A Younger brother of Ang Sur and Ang Tan, Ang Im (a.k.a. Kaev Hva) sided with Ramadhipati and was even anointed his rightful successor. Cf. Mak Phoeun, Chroniques Royales du Cambodge, pp. 191ff. 70 Mak Phoeun, Chroniques Royales du Cambodge, p. 195-196 71 Mak Phoeun, Chroniques Royales du Cambodge, n.3, n.7 and n. 8, p. 365-66. 72 Kersten, Strange Events, pp. 10-17 and 47-49 73 Valentyn, Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indien, pp. 36-49. 18 International Symposium The Changing Mekong: Pluralistic Societies under Siege. Khon Kaen (Thailand): Center for Research on Plurality in the Mekong Region (CERP) and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, 28-30 June 2004 74 Most important among these documents is the daghregister or journal kept by the chief merchant in Cambodia, Pieter van Regemortes: “Dagh-Register van „t gepasseerde op „t Nederlants comptooir in den Rijcke van Cambodia „t zedert den 25en Maert A° 1642, dat de fluijt de Rogh naer Battavia verseijlt is, tot dato (6. Dec. 1642, door Pieter van Regemortes).” In: Muller, De Oost-Indische Compagnie, pp. 247329. 75 Kersten, Strange Events, pp. 10-11. 76 This incident puts into question the exact role – if any -- of the Malays in Chao Ponhea Cand‟s usurpation of the throne. Cf. Mak Phoeun, “La Communauté Malaise Musulmane au Cambodge”, pp. 6162. 77 Kersten, Strange Events, pp. 11-12. 78 Kersten, Strange Events, p. 14. According to a diary kept by the chief merchant, Pieter van Regemortes, the execution of the two young princes occurred already on May 29, 1642. Cf. “Dagh-Register van „t gepasseerde op „t Nederlants comptooir in den Rijcke van Cambodia .” In: Muller, De Oost-Indische Compagnie, p. 270. 79 Mak Phoeun, Histoire du Cambodge, pp. 257-258. 80 Kersten, Strange Events, pp. 14-15. 81 “Dagh-Register van „t gepasseerde op „t Nederlants comptooir in den Rijcke van Cambodia.” In: Muller, De Oost-Indische Compagnie, pp. 247-252 and 272. All this takes place while the king still has to be officially inaugurated, an event that takes place on April 4. Cf., Ibid, p. 248. In a last twist of events, Strange Events reports that, a few months later, the king blamed Perkees Satry‟s brother for having his brother the co-ruler put to death. Accusing him of bearing false witness, he has his brother-in-law executed. Cf., Kersten, Strange Events, p. 14. This incident is, again, corroborated by the journal of van Regemortes. In the same entry in which he reported the execution of the two sons of Uday, the chief merchant wrote that the brother of Perkees Satry had been responsible for the accusations leveled against the brother of Ramadhipati. After the discovery that these allegations had been false, the king had his brother-in-law beheaded on April 28, 1642. He added that the latter‟s wife committed suicide by swallowing poison and that scores of other people were also killed because of their connection to the issue – often by the king himself. Cf., “Dagh-Register van „t gepasseerde op „t Nederlants comptooir in den Rijcke van Cambodia.” In: Muller, De Oost-Indische Compagnie, p. 270. 82 Kersten, Strange Events, p. 15. 83 “Dagh-Register van „t gepasseerde op „t Nederlants comptooir in den Rijcke van Cambodia.” In: Muller, De Oost-Indische Compagnie, pp. 312-315. 84 Another puzzling thing is the reference to Ramadhipati as “Ibrahim”. Neither the Cambodian chronicles, nor any of the primary sources or early publications use this name. Antoin Cabaton says that the name “Ebrahim” can be found in the daghregisters (of Batavia?). Cf., Cabaton, “Les Hollandais au Cambodge au XVIIe Siècle” n. 1, p. 177. The earliest source to mention the name „Sultan Ibrahim‟ explicitly is Mr. L.C.D. van Dijk‟s, Neerland’s vroegste betrekkingen met Borneo, den Solo-Archipel, Cambodja, Siam en Cochin-China. Amsterdam: Scheltema, 1862, p. 320. The pertaining passage was copied literally and translated into French by Dr. Winkel. Cf., Dr. Winkel, “Les relations de la Hollande avec le Cambodge et la Cochinchine au XVIIe siècle.” In: Extrait de Excursions et Reconnaissances Vol. 4 (1881), No. 12, p. 493. Apart from the article by Cabaton, we find name Ibrahim also in W.J.M. Buch, “La Compagnie des Indes Néerlandaises et l‟Indochine.” In BEFEO 37, 1937, p. 217. A letter of Ramadhipati addressed to Governor General van Diemen, which arrived in Batavia on January 11, 1643, also only refers to the king by Indic styles. Cf., Translaet missive van den Conick van Cambodia aen den Ed. Hr. Gouverneur-Generael 1642. In: Muller, De Oost-Indische Compagnie, pp. 333-3. 85 Cf., “Translaet missive van Mory Kaffione, Pander, anders gernaempt in Cambodia Tippinna Ramsit” In: Muller, De Oost-Indische Compagnie, p. 342. 19 International Symposium The Changing Mekong: Pluralistic Societies under Siege. Khon Kaen (Thailand): Center for Research on Plurality in the Mekong Region (CERP) and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, 28-30 June 2004 The title „Inche‟ is a corruption encik or tjik, a Malay word that means „mister‟, putting the bearer slightly below tuan (lord). Cf. Kersten, Strange Events, n. 19, p. 57. 87 VII V Uittreksel “Copie missive van Hendrick Indick ende Pieter kettingh aen d‟E. Hr. Generael ende de Raden van India per den vrijborger Thijs Pieters 21 September 1657.” In: Muller, De Oost-Indische Compagnie, p. 363; VII W Uittreksel “Copie rapport door den coopman Indijck op sijn arrivement op Batavia uit Combodia wegens „s-Companies stant in dat rijck overgegeven aen Haer Ed. In dato 5 January 1658, geschr. Op „t lacht Armuyden ter reede Batavia.” In: Muller, De Oost-Indische Compagnie, p. 365. 88 “Dagh-Register van „t gepasseerde op „t Nederlants comptooir in den Rijcke van Cambodia”, In: Muller, De Oost-Indische Compagnie, p. 308. 89 Cf., Kersten, Strange Events, pp. 16-17, 47; Buch, “La Compagnie des Indes Néerlandaises et l‟Indochine.” p. 218-219; Valentyn, Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indien, p. 47. 90 Kersten, Strange Events, pp. 16, 47-49. Mak Phoeun, Histoire du Cambodge, pp. 273-274, Buch, “La Compagnie des Indes Néerlandaises et l‟Indochine,” p. 219. 91 “Copie daghregister van … de tocht naert coninghrijck Cambodia.. door den vice-commandeur Simon Jacobsz. Domckens, 1644.” In: Muller, De Oost-Indische Compagnie, p. 349. For an extensive account of the battle of Phnom Penh, cf., van Dijk, Neerland’s Vroegste Betrekkingen, pp. 322-333. 92 “Generale missive (van gouverneur-gemeraal aan bewindhebbers) van 23 december 1644” In: Muller, De Oost-Indische Compagnie, p.353. 93 Uittreksel. “Copie missive van Hendrick Indijck, Pieter Kettingh en Adrjaen Stouthart, Cambodia 17 October 1656, aen d‟E. Hr. gouverneur-generael Joan Maetsuycker ende Raaden van India.” In: Muller, De Oost-Indische Compagnie, pp. 357-358 94 VII V. Uittreksel. “Copie missive Hendrick Indick ende Pieter Kettingh aen d‟E. Hr. Generael ende Raden van India per en vrijborger Thijs Pieters 21 September 1657.” In: Muller, op. cit., pp.363-364; Uittreksel VII W. “Copie rapport door den coopman Indijck…. 5 Januari 1658.” In: Muller, De OostIndische Compagnie, pp. 363-367 95 VIII “Brief van Pieter Kettingh in „t Nederlants comptoir Cambodja aan Gouverneur-Generaal en Raden.” March 1658. In: Muller, De Oost-Indische Compagnie, pp. 371-385. We learn from this document that Nac Monton (= Ang Sur a.k.a. Anak Brah Patum) and Nac Preaute (= Ang Tan a.k.a. Uday Suriyovans) were joined by three other princes: Nak Ciricitit (+ Jayajettha, a son of Padumraja I, Nacpra Odel and Napra Praang. Cf. also, Mak Phoeun, Histoire du Cambodge, p. 288. 96 VIII “Brief van Pieter Kettingh in „t Nederlants comptoir Cambodja aan Gouverneur-Generaal en Raden.” March 1658. In: Muller, De Oost-Indische Compagnie, p. 381. 97 Ibid, pp. 382-835. 98 Kersten, Strange Events, p. 52. 99 Mak Phoeun, “La Communauté Malaise Musulmane au Cambodge.”, pp. 62-64. 100 Cf. also, Mak Phoeun, Histoire du Cambodge, pp. 259-262; cf. Carool Kersten, Strange Events, p. 15 101 Valentyn, Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indien. Vol IV/A, p.28, p. 81 102 Po Dharma, “Deux Princes Malais au Campa: Leur role dans la vie socio-politique et religieuse de ces pays.” In: Le Monde Indochinois et la Peninsule Malaise, pp. 19-27 103 Po Dharma observes that “harmonious acculturation of an ensemble of faiths” and “synthesis of cults” were the hallmarks of religion in Panduranga and continued to be so, even to the extent that: “après la venue de princes malais que l‟acculturation prit des proportions très importantes. C‟est depuis lors que les cam jat, tout an continuant à incinérer leurs morts, suivent le Ramadan avec les cam bani qui, de leur côté viennent participer à des cérémonies en l‟honneur des divinities civaïtes, et que les Imam et Katip viennent présider à côté des Adhya et Basaih des cérémonies traditionelles cam, alors que ces derniers vont assister à de cérémonies d‟origine musulmane.” Po Dharma, “Deux princes malais”, n. 1, p. 25. 86 20 International Symposium The Changing Mekong: Pluralistic Societies under Siege. Khon Kaen (Thailand): Center for Research on Plurality in the Mekong Region (CERP) and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, 28-30 June 2004 VII P Uittreksel “Missive van Hendrick Indijck, Pieter Kettingh en Adrjaen Stouthart, Cambodia 12 November 1656 aan d‟E. Hr. gouverneur-generael Johan Maetsuyker en de Raaden van India.” In: Muller, De Oost-Indische Compagnie, p. 360. 104 21